A Rose With Nevermore
by Beastman
Summary: The ZLF was never defeated. Yugo is dead. ZLF top agent, Bakuryu, has ambitions of taking ShenLong's place. Rated for later doses of the ol' ultra-violence
1. The Son of Nothing

A Rose With Nevermore  
  
Ch. 1: The Son of Nothing  
  
Ten years ago, the last major threat to the Zoanthrope Liberation Front was eliminated. Defeating them in personal combat, Master ShenLong slew Yugo Ohgami, Long Shen, and savagely beat his insubordinate underling, Hajime Busuzima. Consolidating his power, ShenLong's ZLF grew into a major player on the world stage.  
  
He looked his own pallid face in the mirror. His once short brown hair had grown long and black from a lifetime spent in the shadow of death, pulled into a tail. Small drops of sweat beaded down his forehead, stinging his eyes. He sighed, and then draped a long velvet cloak over his shoulders. It rubbed against the fine fabric of the Giorgio Armani suits his employer decreed they wear. His was a sleek violet, black in the shadows that he dwelled. He held in his hand a gun, a small one with small bullets. He fit a silencer to its barrel, and then grabbed his true prize.  
  
It was said to the fabled sword of Murasame, said to be able to draw its victims near and rend their flesh as easily as a hot knife through butter. It had served him well in the nine years since Master ShenLong gave it to him. Unfortunate, that for his ambitions to come to bear, it would draw the blood from that same man.  
  
He pulled away, and walked out of the bathroom. In the living area, his subordinates, Fox and Jenny Burtory, awaited the arrival. They were dressed in a similar fashion to himself, sans cape and with black suits instead of violet. Like him, they carried katanas, though theirs were purely ornamental in nature, and each had a chest-holstered handgun.  
  
"If you want out, now's the time. After this, there's no turning back"  
  
They said nothing. They needn't say anything; their eyes said it all. They were tired of the old guard, and wanted to usher in change. He nodded, and walked by. He opened the door ahead of me, and turned off the lights. He walked down the scarlet-lined hallways of the ZLF headquarters to a large, mahogany door. He motioned for them to stay while approached a set of stairs. He silently ascended, spotting a pair of crimson curtains. "The balcony," he thought. He placed a hand to his earpiece, letting out a small, barely audible whistle.  
  
On his cue, Jenny and Fox burst into the room. With a hail of gunfire, members of the ZLF fell. "All is going according to plan," He smirked. Just then, the lights flew on, and the dozens of armed ZLF fighters stood upon a balcony while even more flooded the room. Amidst the gleaming gunmetal and black suits, a single man stood out. A tall man in a blue gi, he had sinister red eyes and jet-black hair.  
  
"Such insubordination is not tolerated in the ZLF," He said in a voice that could freeze the most passionate heart. "As long as I take breath, upstarts like you..." With that he sprung. Unsheathing his katana, he held the blade close to ShenLong's throat.  
  
"Then you will breathe no more," he said.  
  
"No, you will not," ShenLong smirked. He felt a heavy hand grab the back of his neck, picking him up and throwing him to the floor. He looked up, and saw a woman standing over him. She was tall and muscular, with black hair that fell flat across her face. She wore black leather pants, a black shirt with a skull emblem, and a long, black trench coat. Her eyes were dark and sullen, her skin was gaunt with a deathly pallor, and rightful so, if what they say is true. Her name was Shina Gado, and she was dead.  
  
Shina was one of those who, ten years ago, stood up to the ZLF. She was brutally beaten to death by ShenLong, in front of her adopted father Alan. Her body was to be discarded, but Dr. Hajime Busuzima saw possibilities. No one knows exactly what he did, but months later Shina Gado again walked the earth, a hollow shell of her former self. When ShenLong consolidated his power base, he took Shina as his bodyguard. After all, who better to guard you than one whom death itself can't take?  
  
He took his gun from its holster and fired straight into the heart of the unholy beast. She didn't flinch, only kept her stale gaze and indifferent expression. She slowly strode over, absorbing enough bullets to kill five men, and grabbed him by the neck. Swatting the gun from his hand, she silently brought him before ShenLong.  
  
"Bakuryu, top assassin of the ZLF. Ambition is not like you, young man, why have you done this?"  
  
He stayed silent.  
  
"Defiant to the last," Shenlong smirked. ShenLong motioned Shina to bring Bakuryu to the edge of the balcony, where below Fox and Jenny knelt, bound with guns fixed on the back of their heads. "Show them the price of treason."  
  
The shots rang out simultaneously. Two shots, two bodies hitting the floor. Deep inside, Bakuryu cursed ShenLong. ShenLong glared at him.  
  
"You'll die for this," Bakuryu said.  
  
"I know, such is the fate of all flesh. But not now, and not by you, young Bakuryu. Take him downstairs."  
  
"If you're going to kill me, do it now," he growled.  
  
"You will not decide your fate. You must be made an example of. Only when you are beaten and broken, and swear allegiance to me, will I allow you to die." Bakuryu felt Shina strike a clubbing blow to the back of his head, and his sight faded to black.  
  
Hours faded to days to weeks. Shenlong and his goons visited all sorts of torment on Bakuryu. Electrocution, burning, stabbing, slicing, beating, and even more tools he did not wish to recollect. His body had grown weak, but his mind stayed strong. "As long as I draw breath, ShenLong, I will curse your existence."  
  
He was sitting in his cell one day, when he overheard ShenLong speaking to his minions. "He is too weak," ShenLong said, "he mustn't be killed yet." A disappointed sigh came from a man's lips, but none dared defy the master. Bakuryu's senses started to come back to him in the respite. The first thing he saw was a young woman in the cell across from him. She smiled warmly and waved to him.  
  
"What is your name?" she asked innocently. How she managed to stay so in this den of Hell was beyond him.  
  
"You shouldn't speak to me. I'm a dead man walking, and you'd be the same."  
  
"Oh how corny! You're too young and handsome to talk like that!" she admonished. "Anyway, I'm Uriko. There, now you know my name, its only polite you tell me yours."  
  
Bakuryu chuckled. Such naiveté he did not believe existed. Maybe it was some primal instinct, a need for human contact that drew him to her. He sighed, and prepared to say his name, but stopped. "No," he thought, "I'm not him anymore. He was loyal to ShenLong, I am not."  
  
"Kenji. My name is Kenji." 


	2. If I Go Will You Follow?

Must update... Tiger will hurt me... Must update... Tiger will hurt me... Must update... Tiger will hurt me... Must update... Tiger will hurt me... Must update... Tiger will hurt me... Must update... Tiger will hurt me... Must update... Tiger will hurt me...  
  
Ch. 2: If I Go Will You Follow?  
  
With each week his torment grew. No longer allowed to lie on the floor of his cell, he was kept in a crucifix position tied to the walls of his cell. He hadn't slept in days, his eyes grown sullen and dilated. His skin was bruised from head to toe, deep wounds festered with only the bare minimum to ward infection and keep him alive. Still, he would not break.  
  
"Astounding, simply astonishing, amazing, and alliterations!" a green haired man remarked. "The boy, my boy, the Bakuryu, simply obstinately refuses to bow at the master, my master, the master's feet! Heeheeheehee, its astounding!"  
  
"I know that, Busuzima. I need to know how to break him," ShenLong growled.  
  
"Like that you won't, oh no no no no no no no no no no. But there is something interesting, oh yes oh so interesting you should see, the master, my master, the master."  
  
"And that is?"  
  
Busuzima reached up with his foot, turning a dial next to a large monitor. "It seems the boy, my boy, the Bakuryu, has taken a liking to the girl, my girl, the Uriko!"  
  
ShenLong chuckled. "My dear Hajime, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"  
  
"We combine them into a Catmole manwoman! Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!"  
  
ShenLong glared at his underling, and drew his hand back. With a thunderous slap Busuzima collapsed to the floor whimpering. "No, you dolt! We use the girl to break the boy! If Bakuryu has opened to this girl, then we will use that bond to our advantage. Place Bakuryu in the same cell as Uriko after tonight's... session."  
  
"Ye-yes the master, my master, the master. Whatever the master, my master, the master wishes..." Busuzima sniveled. ShenLong walked out, and down the hallway. He sat upon his favorite chair in his own bedchambers. "I swear, that fool grows more unstable by the day. And my hold on Shina is growing ever more tedious. I may soon need to dispose of them as well. A lab accident would suffice for Busuzima........."  
  
"Excuse me Sir?" a anonymous agent asked at his door.  
  
"What is it?" ShenLong barked out.  
  
"They're ready to begin."  
  
A sinister grin crept along ShenLong's face. For almost a month this ritual went on. And though he'd never reveal it to his underlings, he so enjoyed hurting people. He walked back along the scarlet-lined hallways to a nondescript room. In the middle, a drain to soak up the blood spilled here. He grabbed Bakuryu by the face and shot a glare down his eyes. "Are you ready, Bakuryu?"  
  
"I told you, my name is Kenji Ohgami!"  
  
"Try all you want to reclaim your former identity. It matters not. You WILL break."  
  
Kenji spat in ShenLong's face. "Do your worst, he growled. ShenLong smiled, and grabbed an instrument from the table. Had the room not been soundproof, Kenji's screams would have filled the ZLH headquarters.  
  
Hours later, Kenji was dragged back to the cells. He'd grown accustomed to this; they would open the cell on his right, shackle him to the wall, then leave. But this time, he noticed a difference. The sound of a cell opening, it came from his left.  
  
"Am I delirious?" he thought.  
  
He felt the cold cement hit his face as he was tossed from their arms. A war pair of hands turned him over. He could barely make out a brunette feminine face, stroking the hair from his eyes. "Are you okay?"  
  
"No," he muttered. "Uriko, is that you?"  
  
"You remember," she chuckled. "That means your brain's still working!" his eyes slowly came into focus.  
  
"How...?"  
  
"I don't know, the guards just dumped you in here."  
  
"No," he groaned, "how do you stay... so lively... in this place..."  
  
"I have too. Otherwise, I'd probably go crazy," she made a heavy sigh. "My mother was kidnapped ten years ago, I came here to save her. I failed, and was thrown in here to be one of Busuzima's test subjects."  
  
"Ten years..." Kenji muttered. His eyes were now fully in focus. He stared deep into Uriko's eyes. She was so bright and cheerful, yet her eyes were full of sadness and despair. Her large, brown eyes, which looked as if they'd produce tears at any moment. They drew him into their gaze. He could feel his heart pounding.  
  
"That's a nasty cut on your arm," she said with a hint of genuine concern. "I don't have much..." She grabbed a cup of water from her dinner try and poured in on the wound. Kenji controlled his instinct to cringe. She took off her shirt revealing a black sports bra, and wrapped it around his arm. She smiled. "That should do it."  
  
Kenji looked at the wrap, then at Uriko. "Thank you."  
  
"It's okay." His eyes again fixed on hers. They seemed so sad, but so beautiful. The deep brown sea engulfed him, and slowly he drew close. To his surprise, she did the same. Their lips briefly touched, but a spark of static, likely charged during his dragging here, forced them apart with an awkward silence. She looked shyly away, and Kenji longed to recapture that moment.  
  
"Why are you helping me?" Kenji asked.  
  
"Because you're cute." Uriko said with a chuckle. He could tell getting a straight answer would be impossible.  
  
"Uriko, I have a plan... to get out of here. I need your help."  
  
"Okay!" she responded without hesitation.  
  
"If we fail, you'll be executed. You know that, right?"  
  
"And will be anyway. Why else do you think they put us together? They'll use me to get to you. I couldn't help it. I saw you in need, so I wanted to help you."  
  
"I understand," Kenji nodded, and then slowly rose to his feet. "Okay, Uriko, listen closely, I can't afford to repeat myself..." 


	3. Rubicon

Ch. 3: Rubicon  
  
The guards walked on by at their appropriate time, to take Kenji to his nightly session. They arrived; spotting Uriko huddled in a corner and Kenji lying on the ground. His chest was covered with a thick, red fluid.  
  
"I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't... I had to... I had to kill him..." Uriko said distraught.  
  
"Shit!" one of them yelled. "This is Agent 43, requesting medical assistance! Prisoner 232 has apparently attacked Prisoner 947!"  
  
One of the other guards walked over and struck Uriko across the face. "What did you do, you little wench?"  
  
"He... he tried to force himself on me. I..." she sobbed, "I tore his chest open when he wouldn't stop... he..."  
  
"God fucking dammit, Master ShenLong is going to kill us!" he mumbled.  
  
"Uh, Agent 36?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"This...'blood' kinda smells like..."  
  
"Ketchup?" Kenji said. He quickly kipped up to his feet and struck a spinning kick to the temple of one of the guards. Uriko also sprang to her feet, smashing the other guard's head into the wall. "Quickly, Uriko, before the guards arrive."  
  
"You mind?" she said removing her pants. Kenji looked away as she quickly slipped on the guards uniform. Kenji did the same, and then they slipped the prison fatigues on the guards. Not a moment too soon, the medical staff arrived.  
  
"Quickly," Kenji yelled to the medical staff. "If either of them dies, Master ShenLong will have all of our heads!"  
  
"Yessir!" One of them yelled. They picked up the bodies and ran them to the medical faculty.  
  
"Now we must go," Kenji whispered, taking Uriko by the hand. "There's a weapons closet down the hall. Hurry." Kenji dragged Uriko behind him. The cold concrete cellblock gave way to a sleeker steel artifice, with several doors lining the way. He stopped abruptly at one such door, and then quickly punched a series of numbers into the keypad lock. "ShenLong you're too predictable. Didn't think to remove my clearance."  
  
The door opened, and Kenji shoved Uriko inside. "Yeesh, not so rough."  
  
"It won't take long for them to notice we're gone. We must act quickly," Kenji mumbled as he rifled through the assorted munitions. "Where are they?"  
  
"What?" Uriko asked inquisitively.  
  
Kenji smiled. "These. They're Titanium hollowpoint rounds with a mercury fulminate compound inserted into the cavity." Kenji looked up and saw Uriko's befuddled expression. He sighed. "Its an explosive-tipped round, makes an exit wound the size of a deep dish chicken pot pie." He loaded two pistols and holstered them to his sides, then loaded normal rounds into a shoulder holster and finally picked up a fourth and attached a silencer. He picked up a shoulder-mounted rocket and looked straight at Uriko.  
  
"Isn't that overkill?" Uriko asked.  
  
"Not if we meet Shina. You know how to fire a gun?" he asked. Uriko shook her head. "Great," he grumbled.  
  
"Hey, if it wasn't for me..."  
  
"Shush!" Outside, she could hear the low voices of two, maybe three guards. "We can't risk being spotted yet," he whispered. As soon as the voices were out of range, he opened the door and peered outside. "Let's go, and quietly." He held her hand, leading her down the hallway. They got to a corner. Kenji slid his back to the wall, and peeked around. In one swift motion, he spun around the corner, firing two rounds before ducking back. "Good," he whispered, "no one heard. Let's go."  
  
Uriko felt a little squeamish when they passed the pair of bodies. She realized, though, it needed to be done. Slowly, deliberately, they made their way through the corridors of the ZLF HQ, until finally they made it to an elevator. "Press your back to the wall, and don't move until I tell you." Uriko nodded, while Kenji loaded another clip of ammo. The elevator dinged. Kenji swerved, aiming his gun inside, but it was empty. "Go."  
  
The boarded, and Kenji hit a single button. "Why are we going to the roof?" Uriko asked.  
  
"There's a walkway from the rooftop to the parking garage. We go there, steal a car, and make our getaway." The elevator neared the top. "Uriko, you are to sit in that corner, and don't make a sound, don't even move a muscle until I call for you." Normally, she would resent him taking such a commanding tone, but in such matters it was not time to argue. She sat, covering her head with her hands.  
  
Kenji took a deep breath, readied two pistols, and stood awaiting the ping of the elevator reaching its destination. I did, and the doors slowly opened. Kenji rushed outside as gunfire erupted. The deafening roar of pistols, rifles, and submachine guns hurt Uriko's ear. She clenched them tightly to her head, and shut her eyes, wishing it would all just go away.  
  
Moment's later, it did. A million thought rushed through her head. "Did they kill Kenji? Is he okay? Did he win?" Her fears were put to rest as his strong voice called to her. She emerged from the elevated, into a scene wrought with corpses and bullet holed. At least a dozen men lay dead at his feet.  
  
"It had to be done," he said, taking her hand. They raced across the bridge, but a ping stopped Kenji in his tracks. He looked back as Shina emerged from the elevator with another dozen ZLF troops. "Shit..." Kenji muttered. She approached with unearthly speed as Kenji hurried to the other side of the bridge. With one swift motion he readied the rocket launcher, and fired, destroying the walkway and knocking Shina back.  
  
"Hurry!" He yelled to Uriko. They ran to the parking garage, settling into a large, sturdy jeep. Kenji quickly began tearing open the panels, trying to hotwire the vehicle. "Um, Kenji?" Uriko muttered, "We got company."  
  
Kenji groaned and handed Uriko a gun. "Point, pull trigger. It's not rocket science!"  
  
Uriko reluctantly took the gun and fired on the oncoming ZLF troops. Her first shots missed, but one then struck a man straight in the chest. Part of Uriko wanted to shout out "I got one," but the part of her that wanted her to cry kept it silent. Suddenly, only a click came from the gun.  
  
"Kenji, I'm... WHOA!"  
  
Uriko fell back in her seat as the jeep sprang to life, speeding through the ranks of the ZLF. "Brace yourself!" Kenji warned. Uriko could hear the snap of wood as splinters flew overhead. She looked back, at the ZLF HQ.  
  
"We did it!" she yelled, "We're free!"  
  
"Not yet," Kenji warned.  
  
ShenLong surveyed the rubble with a very unhappy scowl. He looked to his men, then to Shina. "Find them," he ordered. "Hunt them down, and bring them to me." Shina stared blankly, and then began walking in the direction of Kenji and Uriko's escape. 


	4. When You're Evil

Ch. 4: When You're Evil…

"When the Devil is too busy, And Death's a bit too much, they call on me by name you see,  
For my special touch. To the Gentlemen I'm Miss Fortune, To the Ladies I'm Sir Prize, But call me by any name, Any way it's all the same"

"Did you hear something?" Uriko asked inquisitively. It had been six hours since they escaped ZLF headquarters. The full moon hung high in the sky, shining its rays on the pair. They had stopped to rest tucked away in an alley, changing cars from the bulky jeep to a smaller, sleeker car.

"Its your imagination," Kenji replied. "Try to rest, we leave at daybreak." Uriko sighed. She was sure she hear something…     

"I'm the fly in your soup, I'm the pebble in your shoe, I'm the pea beneath your bed, I'm a bump on every head, I'm the peel on which you slip, I'm a pin in every hip, I'm the thorn in your side, Makes you wriggle and writhe, And it's so easy when you're evil, This is the life, you see, The Devil tips his hat to me, I do it all because I'm evil, And I do it all for free, Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need"

Suddenly, Kenji's blood ran cold in his veins. He felt a presence, something he could not explain, but knew all too well. His hand grabbed Uriko's arm and he jerked her to her feet. "We're leaving," he commanded.  

"Why?" she asked in a dreamy haze.

"She's here…"

"While there's children to make sad, While there's candy to be had, while there's pockets left to pick, While there's grannies to trip down the stairs, I'll be there, I'll be waiting round the corner, It's a game. I'm glad I'm in it, 'Cause there's one born every minute"

As if Kenji's words were an introduction, the wall near them crumbled, revealing the black-clad angel of death. She gazed on them with the same stoic stare she always had. Kenji flew into the driver's seat while Uriko took her place on the passenger's side. Kenji threw the car in drive and sped towards Shina. She braced herself, and stopped the car dead in its tracks, lifting it off the ground.

"SHIT!" Kenji yelled. He frantically reached for a gun, and fired a single round into Shina's chest. True to his word, it left a gaping hole one could almost see through. She staggered and dropped the car. Kenji prepared to throw it in reverse, but stopped cold.

Shina's chest wound began to close. Blood clotted and skin reformed, leaving not so much as a scar. Only the hole in her clothes exposing her right breast told the tale of her injury.

"She's not supposed to do that…" Uriko muttered. 

Kenji threw the car in reverse, and pressed the gas straight down. Shina crouched, and leapt into the air, landing hard on the roof. Her feet and hands left a dent that Kenji and Uriko could easily see. "Uriko, I don't suppose you can drive?"

"My sister gave me a few lessons," she muttered.

"Good, finally you can be useful. Take the wheel." With not another word, Kenji flipped out the window and onto the roof. His inhuman dexterity allowed him to stay on the roof, despite the car traveling at such high speed.  "Shina!" he yelled.

"Finally," she said in a low, raspy voice that sent chills down his spine. It was as if the Reaper herself had whispered in his ear.

_"I pledge my allegiance, to all things dark, And I promise on my damned soul, To do as I am told, Lord Beelxebub, Has never seen a soldier quite like me, Not only does his job, but does it happily."_

"You spoke," he said. "You've never talked before.

"What was there to say?" She said in the same low, raspy tone. 

"How about, farewell?" Kenji said firing a full clip into Shina. She merely looked down as the bullets forced themselves out of her skin, and the wounds re-closed.  Shina then retaliated by grabbing Kenji by the throat. She stood with him, with no expression on her face. But then, she smiled, a grim, sinister smile not of joy, but of depravity. Kenji tried to kick free, but even the wild swerving of Uriko's terrible driving couldn't shake her grip. He could feel the air being cut off from his throat, and his struggles grew weak. 

Before he lost consciousness, however, Uriko lost control. Swerving wildly, she took a hard right ramming the car into a wall. Kenji and Shina were thrown clear, Shina landing hard. Kenji approached the lifeless body. He should have known better, as she sat up and quickly climbed to her feet.  

"I'm the fear that keeps you awake, I'm the shadows on the wall, I'm the monsters they become, I'm the nightmare in your skull, I'm a dagger in your back, An extra turn on the rack, I'm the quivering of your heart, A stabbing pain, a sudden start."

"I have to find a way to lose her, but how?" 

Kenji's eyes scanned the scene. He spotted a large oil tanker nearing. He grinned. He pulled his last gun, aiming at Shina. She stood still, not showing any emotion. Kenji swiftly moved the gun, aiming at the tanker. She fired a few shots to startle the driver. He swerved wildly, colliding with Shina and carrying her to a wall. The driver fled in a panic, as Kenji re-aimed his gun. He fired another shot, straight at the tank. It exploded in a cataclysmic fireball, engulfing Shina and the tanker in its horrible beauty.

"And it's so easy when you're evil, This is the life, you see, The Devil tips his hat to me, I do it all because I'm evil, And I do it all for free, Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need, And I do it all for free, Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need, And I do it all for free, Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need"

Kenji turned away, and began to walk away. He stopped. "Uriko…" he said. He ran to the car. Uriko lay limp, bleeding from her temple. Something inside wished him to stay unemotional, to regard her as a liability. But he couldn't. He undid her seatbelt, and cradled her gently in his arms. 

"You're lucky I'm doing this," he said, even though she couldn't hear him. "I should just leave you behind. If I were smart I would. I'll have to figure out what emotion is making me do this, and exercise it. 

"It gets so lonely being evil, What I'd do to see a smile, Even for a little while, And no one loves you when you're evil…" 

The tanker's flames burned high into the sky. The driver looked on and wondered about the woman he had hit. He felt terrible, but that guy with the gun…

Suddenly, the tanker shook. "No way…" he muttered. Slowly at first, the tanker rose into the sky. Then, with a burst of flame, the tanker flew through the air and into an adjacent building. 

"Good God Almighty," the driver muttered.

Among the flames, a single naked female stood. Her clothes had been burned off her body, yet she showed no burns, no bruises, scrapes, broken bones nor deep gashing wounds. 

She simply smiled, looking in the direction Kenji and gone. "The chase is on," she whispered, walking after him.__

**_  
_**_"I'm lying though my teeth!  
Your tears are all the company I need!"___


	5. Graveyard Symphony

Ch. 5: Graveyard Symphony  
  
Lights swirled, intermingled with darkness. Colors flashed incohesively. For a faint moment, she felt a familiar presence, a face she'd not seen in ten years.  
  
"Alice...?" she whispered.  
  
"Alice? No. I am not Alice."  
  
"Kenji?" she muttered. "What happened?"  
  
"There was an accident. You were injured. Simple, really."  
  
"You took care of me? Why?"  
  
"Honestly, I haven't the foggiest clue."  
  
Uriko could feel strength returning to her limbs. Her accelerated Zoanthrope physiology was healing her wound far faster than a normal human. She could sit up, look Kenji straight in the eyes, and smile. "I know why," she teased. "You're smitten with me, aren't you?"  
  
"The trauma to your head must have been worse than I thought." He reached for some bandages, no doubt stolen. Uriko's hand stopped him.  
  
"Admit it, Kenji. There's something there."  
  
"There isn't!" he yelled. Uriko's eyes widened, and she drew back. "I... I'm sorry..." He tried to stand, but Uriko held tightly to his hand.  
  
"Kenji, stop pushing me away. We're in this together. There can't be secrets between us."  
  
Kenji sighed, and sat down. "It was seven years ago. I was under the command of Busuzima at the time. I was his hand, an extension of his will. Then I met her. She had short brown hair, green eyes, and was so full of life. I was forced to bring her in. A day hadn't gone by I didn't think about her... the way she looked at me with a slightly flirtatious look in her eyes... that I didn't regret what I had done. I tried to push it out of my mind, but..."  
  
"That was you?" Uriko asked as long-suppressed memories flooded into her mind. That day when an assassin, a ninja, swooped down and plucked her from the streets, the beginning of her time in Busuzima's care. "You were afraid I'd find out, weren't you? That's why you were so mean. You wanted to push me away so if IU found out, it wouldn't hurt you as much."  
  
"Yes. As much as I don't want to admit it, yes."  
  
Kenji looked into Uriko's eyes, still filled with a sympathetic, loving gaze. "Kenji, I should hate you, for taking away my life. But you took me from that horrid place. You gave me hope when I had long given it up. I could never hate you. People change, Kenji, you are no exception."  
  
Uriko smiled and drew her face closer to his. Her soft lips pressed against Kenji's. At first he resisted, but finally gave in, letting her tongue play with his. For a moment, the world was gone. There was no ZLF, no Shina on their heels; it was just them for now and forever.  
  
A pity it was not to last. The doors burst from their hinges and windows shattered. Men and women armed with rifles and clad in black burst in, with guns fixed firmly on Kenji and Uriko. He looked around. Twenty, no thirty armed men, and him with no weapons. They had no recourse but surrender.  
  
"How could they have found us so quickly?" he thought as they approached. Kenji felt a sharp pain against the back of his head, and he faded into unconsciousness.  
  
Hours later, Uriko found herself again in a cell. This one, however, was more humanely kept and the guards were less abusive, nicer even. Finally, one unlocked the door to her cell. "Young lady, you've been asked to meet with the leaders of the Resistance. If you would come this way." She sighed and followed him down a long, sterile corridor. He opened a door in fron oif her, and she walked through. Inside to people awaited. One was a gruff- looking old man with long gray hair and scars to match. The other sat in a wheelchair, her back to Uriko. Slowly it turned, revealing a face aged and wizened through hardships, but one Uriko would recognize in a heartbeat.  
  
"Sis!" she yelled. Uriko ran over and hugged her long-lost stepsibling.  
  
"Uriko, it really is you! It's been so long."  
  
"Sis, what happened?"  
  
"ShenLong's doing. I... confronted him after he..." she struggled through painful memories, "killed Yugo. He shattered my spine. If Gado hadn't found me, I would have been dead. But you... you were locked in ther for ten years!"  
  
"Yeah, I'd still... wait, where's Kenji?"  
  
"Kenji? That boy you were with?"  
  
"Bakuryu is locked up downstairs. He's a threat." The older man said sternly.  
  
"I don't care! He saved my life, Sis! Let me see him."  
  
"Absolutely not," the older man refused. "He's killed more of my man than any other ZLF agent, and I intend to see him pay for each and every one."  
  
Alice raised her hand, revealing a matching band to the older man's. Uriko's eyes widened slightly. "That's not our way, Alan."  
  
"I know, but..."  
  
"No buts, Alan. We let Uriko see him. You remember what its like to be young and in love, don't you?"  
  
"You'd let ShenLong himself in here. If you weren't my wife I'd...  
  
"You'd what?" Alice challenged.  
  
"Forget it. Let her see him," he grumbled. Alice smiled. "You never could say no to me," she teased, kissing him on the cheek. Uriko pushed her out of the room.  
  
"You and that man?"  
  
"Alan Gado founder of the Bi-Partisan Rebel Battalion. Yes, we were married. We met after the incident ten years ago. I guess, we had both lost something dear to us then. He lost his daughter, and I Yugo.  
  
"But still, he's so... old..." she groaned. Alice sighed. "Just keep going."  
  
Inside the office, Alan, looked out the window. A smaller female frame came into his view. She was shorter than him, with matted black hair. She wore a black tank top, black pants, and a trenchcoat. His face scowled, as she walked in. He let out an audible sigh, and stared her directly in her cold, emotionless eyes. "Tell your master, tell ShenLong that Bakuryu and the girl are here. And that he better not forget our deal."  
  
"Don't worry. My master will be most pleased," the woman said with a smirk, "father." 


	6. Turn the Page

*Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Just moved into my new place, and you know how cable companies are! *  
  
Ch. 6: Turn the Page  
  
"Kenji!" Uriko exclaimed as she rushed into his arms. She hugged him tightly. "I was afraid you..."  
  
"...walked into a trap." Kenji finished. "I let my guard down for a minute, and walked into a trap."  
  
"Oh hush, you. We're alive and safe, isn't that what matters?"  
  
"No. Had it been the ZLF..."  
  
"It wasn't! Jeez, stop with the 'woulda, coulda, shouldas' already!" She said, kissing him to prevent further response. "Sis," she pleaded, "can't we let him out?"  
  
"Alan's going to be a hard sell. You've killed a lot of people..."  
  
"And I did it all with a song in my heart. I will make no excuses for my actions."  
  
"At least the murderer is honest," Alan Gado said, emerging from behind Alice. "I've reconsidered. You are free to leave the cell, but not the premises. The BPRB may still have uses for you."  
  
"How unlike ShenLong," Kenji muttered. "Fine."  
  
Gado grunted, then walked away. Alice wheeled closely behind him. "I knew you..."  
  
"I did it for the exact reasons I stated," Alan said, becoming suddenly defensive. He coldly walked out, and slammed the door behind him. Alice sighed. Times like this, that was all to often, she regretted ever marrying him.  
  
"This is your room," the handsome young man in a gray militant uniform said. "As per Mr. Gado's orders, you are to stay here until called for."  
  
"Got it," Kenji said. The man walked away. Kenji looked around the room as the door locked behind him. It was small, one room with a small bathroom and kitchenette.  
  
"Only one bed," Uriko mumbled.  
  
"I will sleep on the floor, if you wish."  
  
"Nah," Uriko said playfully, winking at Kenji. He grunted, and then began examining the room. "What are you looking for?" she asked.  
  
"I don't trust them," Kenji answered.  
  
"Hey! That's my sister..."  
  
"Not her, Gado. He has an air of betrayal about him."  
  
"He can't be that bad. My sis..."  
  
"...is married to him out of convenience. It's a front. The girlfriend of the martyr to the anti-ZLF cause, married to the leader of the anti-ZLF movement. Isn't it a bit too convenient? Haven't you noticed how he's so too distant, never holds her hand, never acts like he loves her?"  
  
"Mr. Gado might not be Mr. Affectionate, but he's not as bad as you!"  
  
Kenji paused, and then looked at the irritated Uriko. A feeling came over him. He felt... sorry... for making her upset. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean..." he struggled to find the words.  
  
Uriko smiled at the usually calm and reserved Kenji. "Its okay, I can see what you mean." She drew herself closer, breathing heavily. "But even if you're right, we should be safe tonight. With the ZLF and everything, this night could be our first night, our only night..." She kissed him, and drew him closer to the bed. She lay back, pulling Kenji with her.  
  
"Uriko, are you sure?"  
  
"Uh-huh," was all she muttered. Other than her freedom, she had never wanted anything more than she wanted him. In the blink of an eye, Kenji removed his shirt and pressed his lips to hers. He lifted her the rest of the way onto the bed. He hovered over her, and with her help removed Uriko's shirt. Her breasts were small, but beautiful to Kenji nonetheless. She took them in his hands, rubbing and fondling them to Uriko's delight. He let go, and then went down to kiss her. Her naked breasts pressed against his muscular chest, and their hearts pounded in unison. Kenji pulled away, kissing her neck. He made his way down, past her breasts to her navel, to Uriko's passionate moans. He quickly unfastened her jeans, and pulled them off. He took a smell of Uriko's underwear before pulling them off as well, then climbed back up to kiss her. Uriko noticed that Kenji's pants were already off.  
  
"He is good," she thought with a chuckle.  
  
"What?" he asked, noticing her amusement.  
  
"Nothing," she said with a smile, flipping Kenji. She ran her fingers along his body. She marveled at how firm and toned his every muscle was. There wasn't an ounce of fat to be found.  
  
"Oh? It's like that?" Kenji said, his voice betraying a hint of humor. As he flipped her, she grabbed the blanket, causing it to wrap tightly around them. They kissed again, lingering for a moment. "Kenji, just so you know... it's my first..."  
  
"Mine too," he reassured her. He slumped back, and Uriko prepared herself for what she knew was to come. "Ah!" she cried as he penetrated her. She gasped, then relaxed into the pillow. Kenji took her warning to heart, thrusting slowly, eliciting more moans from his virginal lover.  
  
"Ah, Kenji, that's it... I..." she muttered.  
  
"Uriko... I..."  
  
Kenji began to speed up, and Uriko's cries became shorter and louder. Her eyes shut tightly. "Kenji... I... I"  
  
Her orgasm hit like a torrent. She let out a cry that filled the room, and for a single instant her world melted away. Kenji stopped, his body shaking as he let out a quieter groan, the collapsed on her. They lay for minutes, breathing hard until Kenji looked into Uriko's eyes.  
  
"Uriko, I love you." He said.  
  
Uriko couldn't help but be shocked. She knew how he felt, but hearing him say it filled her with more joy than she could ever imagine. She nuzzled into Kenji's chest. "I love you too, Kenji," she said with a smile. Kenji held her close, and closed his eyes.  
  
Alice sat there, in awe. She didn't mean to pry, she just wanted to talk to Uriko, but stopped when she heard her cries. She couldn't help but stare, as Kenji held tightly to Uriko, as if he was afraid she'd float away. Alan never held her so. When they made love, it was always as if it were some chore, a laborious task he had to perform, in order to keep up appearances. She always knew theirs was a marriage of convenience. She wanted to divorce him, but doing so would ruin much they had worked for. She made a sad sigh and wheeled away. Alan didn't love her, not in the way Kenji and Uriko loved each other. Outside her room, she could hear his voice.  
  
"Yes, I understand what ShenLong wants, but..."  
  
"No 'buts' deliver the girl and the assassin, or no deal." A woman's voice said, in a tone that mimicked death. Alice's eyes widened in anger, and her fists clenched in rage. "You...!" she cried as she burst into the room burst in the room, where Gado was speaking to a woman in black. "You're dealing with the ZLF?!"  
  
"You don't understand, woman. I have to!"  
  
The woman slinked into the shadows. "Settle this. Quickly."  
  
"You idiot! You've ruined everything!" he shouted, striking her off the chair. "All I had to do was deliver them to the ZLF, and I'd get my daughter back!"  
  
"You daughter is dead! Get over it!"  
  
"I know that! But what it is that keeps her alive, that could end this war! Those two, for an end to the bloodshed, isn't that a fair trade?"  
  
"That's my sister, you sanctimonious son of a bitch!" Alice yelled, slapping Gado across the face. Alice began to wheel herself out, but Gado cut her off. Alice reared back, and used her arms to carry a head butt to Gado's groin. He fell to the ground, and Alice made her way to Uriko's room. She flung open the door, startling Uriko and Kenji. "Quickly, you have to get out of here! Gado's sold you out!"  
  
Kenji shot a momentary glance to Uriko, then proceeded to dress himself. He waited for Uriko, and then followed Alice out the room and down the hall. Suddenly, several shots ran out.  
  
"What was that?" Uriko yelled.  
  
"The ZLF," Kenji replied. "Quickly!"  
  
The trio made their way down the halls, following Alice's instructions. Uriko tripped over something, making her scream. Kenji picked her up, and examined the object that elicited her scream. A body, bruised and battered, Alan Gado's body. From the shadows Shina emerged.  
  
"With my own two hands. I killed my father with my own two hands," she mumbled with a twisted smile.  
  
"So, your alive," Kenji growled.  
  
"No, I'm not," Shina replied. Gado moaned. "So, your still alive? How obstinate." She stomped her foot, crushing Gado's head against the floor. She lifted the bloody foot away, and stepped towards them.  
  
"Kenji, through that door, and four to the right, fifth panel on the floor. There's a tunnel that leads outside. Go, now." Alice said, procuring a grenade from her lap and pulling the pin. "NOW."  
  
Kenji nodded, and grabbed Uriko. "Sis, I love you!"  
  
"Goodbye Uriko. I'll see you in the next life."  
  
"Do you really think that will stop me?"  
  
"No," she said, moving her blanket to reveal several clumps of plastique explosives and a detonator, "but this might."  
  
Kenji had barely gotten inside the hidden passage when he heard the explosion. Uriko started crying, but stopped herself. She had to be strong to do what she had to do. They ran down, putting as much space between them and the compound as they could. Finally, when fatigue overcame them, they stopped.  
  
"This should be far enough..." Kenji said through gasps of air.  
  
"Yes, it is far enough," Uriko said. Kenji heard a barely audible click behind him. He recognized it immediately as the click of a gun. He turned around, and saw Uriko holding a pistol, aimed true to his heart. 


	7. Breaking Point

Ch. 7: Breaking Point  
  
"You are going to kill Bakuryu.  
  
"His name is Kenji."  
  
"I don't care. You are going to kill him."  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes you will, if you value your freedom. You want that, don't you?"  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"Don't hide behind false bravado. You long to see your friends, your family again, don't you?"  
  
"..."  
  
"You will escape with him. Run away with him. You will gain his trust, his friendship, and love. And when he finally says it, when he admits he loves you, you will put a bullet through his heart. He will beg, plead, professing his undying love for you. But his pleas will fall on deaf ears, won't they?"  
  
With that, ShenLong handed her the gun, and a small tape recorder to preserve Kenji Ohgami's final moments.  
  
And now, he had professed his love for her. She had to kill him. One shot would be all it took. One shot between her and freedom.  
  
But she couldn't do it. As much as she prepared herself for the moment of betrayal, as much as she tried to tell herself that she was just using him to gain her own freedom, she had genuinely come to care about this man.  
  
"ShenLong put you up to this, didn't he? He told you that if you betray me, he would free you." Kenji knelt. "If you think he will, if you put your faith in ShenLong's word, then pull the trigger. I will offer no resistance, and accept my fate with grace and dignity."  
  
Tears began to flow down Uriko's eyes. "Your suppose to beg! You can't just kneel and die! Beg for mercy! Beg! Please!"  
  
Kenji said nothing. Uriko quivered, and started to pull the trigger. Breaking at the last moment, she threw the gun aside, and threw herself on Kenji. "I... I can't..."  
  
"I know you can't. You're not like ShenLong and I. You have a good heart."  
  
"You're not like ShenLong. You..."  
  
Kenji stood up, and stared at his hands. "Ten years I killed without remorse. My hands are stained with the blood of too many people. Gado was right, I'm nothing but a cold-blooded murderer."  
  
"Youre not..." Uriko choked out.  
  
"Yes he is." A woman's voice called from the shadows. Fox, Jenny, Bakuryu. The three Merciless Angels of the ZLF. All three responsible for the deaths of hundreds."  
  
"Shina?" Uriko uttered.  
  
"No."  
  
"You recognize me, of course. Ten years we killed, with a song in our hearts, as you would say. A pity Fox had to die in the trap to ensnare you, but all good things must end."  
  
"You don't have to do this, Jenny."  
  
"Yes I do, Bakuryu." Without another word, Jenny shot Uriko, straight in the neck. Before Kenji could even move, her aim flew true to Kenji's. The world faded to black. With his last vestiges of sight, he could see Jenny and a larger man picking up Uriko.  
  
Kenji's eyes shot open and he sat straight up. He frantically searched the room, spotting Uriko, Jenny, and the man from earlier. He has blueish skin, and wore a pair of tan slacks and a white tank top concealing a massive frame. His face had small, sullen eyes and mandibles.  
  
"You're awake. Good," he said. "I apologize for the whiff of ammonia, but I had to bring you around soon."  
  
"That shot... tranquilizer?"  
  
"Of course," Jenny said. "After all we've been through, you didn't think I'd actually sell you out to ShenLong, did you? Anyway, that's not important. Shina's sure to be on her way." Jenny sighed.  
  
"But, I saw ShenLong's men execute you..."  
  
"No, you saw them execute a replica made by Dr. Goldberg here."  
  
"A by-product of my humanoid-insectoid physiology," he muttered.  
  
"Ok, I'll buy that. You've been a help, but Uriko and I..."  
  
"... can't keep running forever," Jenny finished.  
  
Kenji sighed. "I know, but what else can we do?"  
  
Jenny tossed a Floppy Disk to Kenji, which he caught with ease. "Fight them. I got my hands on the layout of ZLF HQ. Passcodes, secret areas, tunnels, the works. With these, we can."  
  
"Sssssssh," Kenji motioned. Everyone's hair stood on end, Jenny's eyes widened.  
  
"It cant be..." she mouthed. As if in response, the far wall of the room flew off, revealing a half-naked and very irate Shina Gado.  
  
"I've come for the traitor and his woman. If you two leave, you'll live just that much longer!" she shouted. Dr. Goldberg walked up.  
  
"I'm afraid I..." He never finished his sentence. In the blink of an eye Shina thrust her arm towards him. He jerked, twitched, and gurgled some incoherent words. She stayed expressionless as she drew her arm back, letting the man once known as Stun hit the ground. She stood, holding his pulsating heart in her hand.  
  
"Kenji, Uriko, get out of here!" Kenji grabbed Uriko's arm, and led her out into a large warehouse filled with vats of molten metal. Kenji looked back, watching as Jenny emptied her gun into Shina. Shina stormed up, ad grabbed Jenny's sholder with her left hand. With an evil sneer, she used her right arm to grab Jenny's throat and tore her head off her shoulders in one swift, bloody motion. Uriko turned and threw up as Shina began to walk towards them.  
  
"What do we do now?" She looked up, and saw Kenji enveloped in what appeared to be lightning.  
  
"We stay and fight." Kenji replied, turning into his Zoanthrope form. "Shina or I, one of us won't leave here under our own power." 


	8. Gotterdammerung pt 1

Ch. 8: Gotterdammerung, part 1  
  
göt·ter·däm·mer·ung or Göt·ter·däm·mer·ung (gtr- dm-rng, gtr-dm- rng)  
  
n.  
[After Götterdämmerung, an opera by Richard Wagner, from German,  
twilight of the gods  
  
"This has gone too far," ShenLong muttered to himself. "I let the game get out of hand." He sighed, rose from his chair, and towards a small, velvet lined box. He knew that freak Busuzima and his own pet Shina had found the traitor and his woman. "I will have to end it. With my own hand."  
  
Shina slowly advanced, the flames of Hell dancing in her eyes. Never before had she shown such emotion, and never before had Kenji realized the perversion of her former self she had become. Once a woman, just and noble, now a demon spawned straight from Cocytus itself. What unholy science had dredged her from Hell? What evil had Busuzima wrought?  
  
With the bat of an eye Shina rushed him, bringing to bear her full fury. Kenji did the same, fully intending to bring down the beast here and now. Without warning he lunged his claws forward, impaling Shina. As her blood trickled down his fingers, she simply grinned.  
  
"You'll have to do better than that," she said. She grabbed his arm, and with a grunt began to spin around. After three full revolutions she let Kenji's momentum take him. The mole flew through the air and into a concrete wall, cracking it in the process. Shina took the chance to rush him, throwing a forceful blow that would have decapitated him had Kenji not dodged at the last second.  
  
Kenji regrouped while Shina struggled to extricate herself. He thrust his arm at her, impaling her in the back. Shina quickly backhanded him, then pulled herself free. She pounced, and lifted her arm with murderous intent.  
  
"Time to die, little rat."  
  
"Oh no, Kenji!" Uriko yelled. She started to run towards him, but a sinister giggle stopped her cold in her tracks.  
  
"Now now little kitty, oh so pretty. So have trouble-wooble of your own..."  
  
"Busuzima..." she mouthed.  
  
Kenji avoided Shina's fists, each blow shattering the ground beneath them. Kenji slashes Shina's face, blinding her with her own cold, dead blood and giving Kenji a chance to free himself. She let out a fierce howl, transforming into a black panther with glowing red eyes. She stared dead into Kenji's eyes, letting out a growl that made his blood run cold.  
  
"You've been a bad girl, little girl..." Busuzima said, lurking in the shadows.  
  
"Go to hell," Uriko retorted, trying to find the crafty chameleon.  
  
"Naughty naughty naughty naughty naughty naughty naughty!" Busuzima ranted. "I will simply have to discipline naughty little Uriko.  
  
ShenLong's limo pulled up. e slowly climed out, then pulled out a long He slowly climbed out and pulled along a small, silver briefcase. He walked to the driver and peered at him from the corners of his eyes.  
  
"Stay here, I won't be long."  
  
"Die!" Shina seemed to yell as she wildly swiped her claws at the agile young ninja. Kenji managed to stay two steps ahead, barely avoiding her vicious assault. Suddenly, Shina lunged, wrapping her arms around Kenji and squeezing him tight. His breath began to escape him.  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"Now that would be telling-welling, little naughty girl." Uriko's ears perked. She grinned to herself, spun around, and made a singe shot. She smiled at Busuzima, who stood in front of her with a gaping hole in his head.  
  
"You breath to loud," she said. Busuzima's body hit the floor, filling the factory with a sickening thud.  
  
Kenji reared back, and delivered a hard headbutt to Shina. She lost her grips, allowing Kenji to slip free. But the damage was done; Kenji lacked the strength to maintain his beast form and reverted back. He cursed, and jumped up, using his natural agility to climb the series of catwalks that crisscross the battlefield.  
  
Shina, devoid of such talents, merely plowed her way up, crashing through the catwalks in pursuit of her prey. "Time to die, mouse," she growled when Kenji had reached the top catwalk. She approached, as Kenji too his stance.  
  
"Bring it, you freak," Kenji said tight-lipped. Shina roared, shaking the foundations of the building and rushed him. Kenji ran at her, ducking her claws and elbowing her in the stomach. Seizing the opportunity, Kenji delivered a stiff roundhouse kick to Shina's chin, then a second. He jumped into the air, attempting to deliver a jumping kick to Shina.  
  
She stuck our her arm, grabbing Kenji's leg and throwing him to the ground. She lift her arm high abover her head, and struck down. Kenji managed to swerve out of the way, causing Shina to drive her hand into the catwalk. With a flip kick to Shina's chin, he was back on the offensive.  
  
"You can't hurt me, mouse," Shina growled.  
  
Kenji said nothing; he just pressed his advantage, each blow driving the undead beast back. He paused, trying to gauge his opponent's state of well- being. Shina merely smiled, turning back human. "Tell you what, mouse. I'll let you have one more free hit."  
  
Kenji again said nothing, just ran at the gloating Shina. His muscles tensed, his mind focused, he stopped, skidding into Shina. Hitting her with both palms, releasing all if his anger, his rage into one concentrated point. Shina took a step back, then another.  
  
Only to find, she didn't have two steps to take. Kenji walked foreword as Shina disappeared under the catwalk. She became smaller, eventually hitting the vat of liquid metal. Sparks flew and fire burned as the air became filled with something neither Kenji noe Uriko thought they'd ever hear from her.  
  
A scream of pain. Shina's body melted under the intense heat. Her arm stayed raised a mere moment, reaching towards the heavens, and Kenji himself. "Ashes to ashes," he muttered.  
  
Kenji turned around, and saw Uriko walking towards him. Her warm, inviting face, her perpetual smile. His hear swelled with the prospect of holding her in his arms after such a long, harsh battle. He smiled, for perhaps the first time in his life.  
  
A smile, soon marred. A warm, all-to familiar liquid splashed across Kenji's face as Uriko's chest sprayed a crimson stream. Everything seemed in slow motion as she began to fall. Kenji rushed to her, catching her in his arms. He glanced at the sky, and at a familiar figure holding a large handgun. A black coat draped over his sholders and an evil smirk on his face.  
  
"You know where I'll be Kenji," he said as he walked away.  
  
"Ken... ji..." Uriko said weakly.  
  
"Uriko, don't speak. You'll..."  
  
"I'm free." She whispered as tears filled her eyes. "Kenji, I'm... fin... ally... free..." With her last breath she kissed Kenji, and pulled away. Uriko's chest rose, paused, and then fell again.  
  
For the first time, Kenji felt himself cry. 


	9. Gotterdammerung pt 2

Ch. 9: Gotterdammerung pt 2: The Return Of The Son Of Nothing  
  
"I have nothing left to live for." Kenji thought to himself. "No, I do. I have one last thing left to do."  
  
Kenji picked up the handgun and looked deeply at his own reflection. "ShenLong..."  
  
Paris, 1998:  
  
Kenji ran as the police chased him, through the mud-filled streets of Paris. Three years, and he'd never gotten caught. "Must be careless." Kenji thought. "I have to lose them.  
  
Without warning, three shots rang out, and the three officers fell dead. Kenji looked to the source of the shots, a man clad in violet with short brown hair.  
  
"Thank you, sir,"  
  
"You're getting sloppy Bakuryu. Maybe it is that weapon. Not very accustomed to guns, are you?"  
  
ShenLong took Kenji to ZLF's Paris Headquarters, and down into a small, linen lined room. "I've been keeping this for a while. It has little use for me, but maybe for you, it'll make you a more perfect killer."  
  
"What do you wish of me in return?" Kenji asked.  
  
"To do as you have done, Bakuryu. To kill in my name, faithfully, unquestioningly."  
  
"I will, Lord ShenLong."  
  
"But that's not what happened, is it Bakuryu? Or is it 'Kenji' now? You defied me, betrayed me. What makes you better than me?"  
  
"Sir?" a black clad thus asked.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"He's here."  
  
Kenji stood before the gates of the ZLF headquarters. With a heavy sigh, he approached, walking into the front door. The guards stood in shock of this brazen act. Two approached, reaching for their guns. Without a word, Kenji Kenji threw two shuriken at them, his aim deadly accurate. They fell dead, and several more approached. Kenji ducked behind a nearby desk as bullets tore apart the ground he stood once stood on.  
  
Kenji peered his head out from the desk and let fly several shots, taking out several more guards. They fired back, hitting him in the sholder. Kenji slumped back under bar and cursed himself "Shit, what was I thinking? The lone gunman invading the bad guy's base only works in the movies.  
  
Kenji hear several shots ring out, aimed at his foes. He frantically scanned around him, spotting an almost familiar face. He had short brown hair and a kind yet fierce face.  
  
"Yugo?! Is that you?"  
  
"No, it's me, Fang."  
  
"Fang? Oh, now I remember."  
  
"ShenLong is waiting on the roof. I'll cover you while you get to the elevator."  
  
Kenji nodded. Fang rose and opened fire, allowing Kenji the distraction needed to reach the elevator. He flew inside in a hail of bullets, one striking his leg. His eyes went red with pain as the doors closed. "This will take me halfway, then I'll have to get to the Weapons Storage elevator to reach the top..." he thought, wrapping torn sleeves around his wounds."  
  
The elevator rested, and Kenji carefully yet speedily made his way out. Fang's distraction allowed him to traverse the distance near the second elevator rather easily. But as victory seemed near, guards burst in from the staircase. Kenji eyes widened as he struggled to dodge their bullets in such close quarters. One found it mark, hitting Kenji in his right side. He managed to hobble away and hide in some crates.  
  
"This is it. It's over..." he thought. "No... can't..."  
  
"Kenji!" Fang's voice called out. Again the auburn haired man opened fire, driving the ZLF forces back. "Let's go! Quickly!"  
  
Kenji ran, trading fore with the ZLF thugs, to the elevator He got in and looked at fang. "Fang! Hurry!"  
  
Fang turned to run, but was struck with several shots before he reached the elevator. He collapsed in front of Kenji, bleeding from the mouth. "Kenji... take the elevator up to the top floor, then send it... and me... back down..." Fang procured a grenade, with the pin pulled, the last vestiges of his strength holding down the handle. Kenji nodded. "We were... waiting for you to come back... and take over..."  
  
Kenji's elevator reached the top floor. He walked out, and gave Fang one last nod, before closing the door. Below him, he could hear the explosion, and imagine the screams of the ZLF fighters. He sighed, and looked up. He solemnly walked the stairs, and opened the door to the roof. Before him, atop an ivory staircase, stood the man he had grown to despise so much.  
  
"ShenLong," he muttered.  
  
"Congratulations Bakuryu! You've killed hundreds, maimed hundreds more, to get to where you are now," ShenLong walked over to a small table, and poured a glass of wine. "Do you remember Paris, Bakuryu? You vowed your loyalty to me there. You lied. Another sin." He laughed. "We are not all that different, are we?"  
  
"No, we're not. We're both empty sells of men, clutching desperately to something to validate our existence. You, to your misbegotten notion of Zoanthrope supremacy, and me to the memory of a girl you murdered."  
  
ShenLong poured a glass of wine. "Don't get self-righteous with me, insolent whelp. Your hands are just as stained as mine."  
  
"They are. But one thing separates us, ShenLong. I am a man and a beast. You are a beast in the guise of a man." With a single shot, ShenLong's glass exploded, spilling its contents over the madman's shirt.  
  
"You've been practicing." ShenLong growled. He sighed and threw a long, wrapped object at Kenji. He reluctantly picked it up, unwrapping it to reveal his sword. ShenLong procured one of his own. "Let us settle this like somewhat civilized men, shall we?" 


	10. Gotterdammerung pt 3

Ch 10: Gotterdammerung pt. 3: Death and Rebirth  
  
Kenji took the blade in his hands. It was the Muramasa, so given to him years before in Paris. A gift from master to servant; a gift to be repaid in blood.  
  
ShenLong smirked. "Do you know the legend of Masamune and Muramasa? Long ago, two swordsmiths met near a small stream. They were Masamune and his student Muramasa. Each of them brought one of their finest blades. To show his teacher the quality of his craft, Muramasa stuck his blade into the stream. As leaves floated past, they were neatly cut in two, he held his blade up, proud of his work. Masamune stuck his blade into the stream. As Muramasa watched, the leaves that floated past avoided the blade altogether. He then understood and was ashamed of his amateur skills."  
  
Kenji listened to his idle ramblings; wondering as to what game ShenLong was playing.   
  
"Masamune was a fool. What good is a weapon that can't be used? And that, Kenji Ohgami, is what you are now. A weapon, unweilded and useless. Bakuryu, now there was the keenest of weapons..."  
  
"I'm not a weapon, ShenLong. I am a man!"  
  
"Are you? Are any of us? I was created in a tank, a clone of a man named Long. Am I a man? A beast, as you claim? Neither, Kenji. To the humans, and to my followers, I am God. And you, blasphemous heathen, are attempting to undermine my authority over these sheep!"  
  
"Listen to you ShenLong, you're ranting like a madman!"  
  
"Mayhap I am, dear boy. Or maybe, just maybe, I'm right." ShenLong began to draw his own sword.  
  
"Only one way to find out," Kenji said, drawing his. A silent bell tolled, and the two men rushed each other. The sound of steel on steel filled the clear night air as the two blades came face to face. Shenlong attempted to kick Kenji away, but his superb reflexes allowed him to spin and dodge and counterattack, a move matched by ShenLong's parry. Both men raised their blades high, lifting them into the air and crashing them down on each other with a thunderous clash. Deadlocked again, they struggled for dominance in a test of raw strength.  
  
Both men leapt away to plot their next move. Like a serpent and its tamer they circled, silver blades brandished in the bright full moon. A snarl escaped ShenLong's lips as Kenji remind quiet and composed. "Our destiny, our fates intertwined have led us here," ShenLong whispered.  
  
Kenji said nothing. His response was a low to the ground slash that ShenLong jumped over. With killing intent he used his blade to come crashing down on Kenji's, yet the sword held firm.  
  
"I'm impressed. Maybe you still have some of the old Bakuryu left in you. Come back to the ZLF, Kenji. Kill at my side again, just like old times."  
  
"Never!" with a burst of anger Kenji broke free, his eyes burning a hole in his opponent.  
  
"A little hypocritical, to be grieving over one woman when you have killed hundreds."  
  
"She showed me, ShenLong. She taught me what life is worth. A lesson you could never understand."  
  
"I guess not." ShenLong threw his sword into the air. In a split second, he drew a gun from his coat and fired. Kenji deftly maneuvered his way out of the line of fire, and grabbed the falling sword. He charged, using skills honed over a lifetime to deflect the wild shots of a madman. One shot hit his hand, causing him to drop the Murasame.  
  
"Its not to late, Kenji. Come back to the fold, make the ZLF stronger, and be rewarded with the world."  
  
"No. I have felt what no amount of wealth, no amount of power can ever hold. I have felt the love of another person."  
  
"Love is an illusion Kenji. A weakness best left for the weak."  
  
"Now who's being hypocritical, ShenLong?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I read up on you. You never mentioned you had a wife. Suzanne, is it? Tall, green eyes, blonde hair, you met her at a bar in New York, am I right? And what about your son, Shin, correct?"  
  
A cold sweat dropped down ShenLong's brow. "You didn't..."  
  
ShenLong fired a shot, but Kenji was too fast. His blade flew through the air, and into ShenLong's hand. The gun flew through the air, and into Kenji's hand. He smiled, and fired too shot. ShenLong fell to the ground in a puddle of blood.  
  
"You're knees are useless, ShenLong. You'll never walk again."  
  
"Kill me, you son of a bitch. That's what you came here to do, isn't it?"  
  
"No, ShenLong. Revenge is not my motive. Revenge is an irrational trait present in irrational men. We both know I am neither. This is about punishment, ShenLong."  
  
"P-punishment?"  
  
"Your wife and son are alive, right where you left them. I must say, France is such a lovely country. Secure, too. What, three-dozen armed guards? A private villa in the Alps? Safe, isn't it?"  
  
ShenLong groaned as he reached for Kenji's collar. "Of course, you know better. I could easily dispatch those guards, just as easily as I found out you had a family, and just as easily as I found out where they are. You can't hide them. All it would take is for me to wake up one morning and say 'I want them dead,' and BANG, its done by nightfall."  
  
"You wouldn't..."  
  
"I wouldn't, would I? I'm Kenji Ohgami, true, but I am also Bakuryu, then cold blooded assassin you once employed, the cold blooded assassin you royally pissed off."  
  
Kenji rose to his feet, as ZLF agents filtered out onto the roof. Kenji procured a single, black rose from his coat and ran it's throns along ShenLong's cheek. "That's my punishment to you, ShenLong. You'll live every day for the rest of your life knowing that I'm out there. You'll live knowing that I'm waiting in the shadows. I will be the bogyman who haunts your nightmares, the shadows that keep you awake, and the monsters they become. And you know that NO ONE, not you, not your family, and not the ZLF are safe from me. And finally, when you've lost it all, as I have, then and ONLY then will I allow you to die, ShenLong."  
  
Kenji's cold, unfeeling stare tore a hole in ShenLong. For the first time in his life the usually suave and sadistic man whimpered, and started crying. Kenji walked to the rooftop, tossed ShenLong a single, black rose, and shot dead of the ZLF agents. With almost a bemused smirk, and before the eyes of a half-dozen ZLF agents, jumped. They ran to the edge, leaving one behind to tend to the falled only to see the black-clad ninja walk away, with a small gray box in his hand. He pressed it, and a nearby sports car, SenLong's car, exploded into a ball of flames. The fires reached high into the sky, to the nostrils of their crippled and sobbing leader. Some say a bell tolled that night, clear as the midnight breeze.  
  
And those that heard it would say, that it was a death toll.  
  
................................................ The End.  
(For Now) 


End file.
